3 Tips to Create Email Marketing That Matters

Post by: Angela Rivera

I have a lot of emails in my inbox. 824, to be exact. Yes, I’m that person. And I’m going to tell you why.

Email marketing is one of the best digital marketing campaigns – helping brands reach massive targeted audiences. But with the huge amounts of emails being sent every day, many recipients are reluctant to open, much less click.

Here’s the issue (and the silver-lining): emails are personal. They go to a specific person, so it stands to reason that its message should resonate with the addressed user. More often than not, though, it doesn’t. Brands generate subscribers through irrelevant contests, incessantly distribute discount codes, send promotions to inactive subscribers, the list goes on and on.

Today’s consumers don’t want to feel hustled; they want to feel important. If a brand’s email campaign hits the wrong note, the “you’re marketing to me!” red flags go up, followed by a swift delete. With a little more focus and intention, brands have a real opportunity to tell their story in a way that hero’s the customer, presents their problem, and offers a clear solution.

Here’s how BLVR shifts the eCRM focus on what really matters:

1. Generate a great email database.It’s not enough to have thousands of subscribers; they need to actually want to hear from you. If only 2% of your subscribers actually click through, then Houston we have a problem. We see it all the time – brands with dated email databases, spam email subscribers from giveaways. “Why isn’t anyone clicking my email blast?” “How do I engage these subscribers I got during Y2K?” (Kidding, sort of.) The answer’s simple: you can’t. More likely than not, these users don’t remember why they signed up for your email communications in the first place or just flat-out don’t care about your product offering. They just wanted that free iPad you were touting last week.

Your email database is your lifeline; it should be comprised of all the people who’ve actively chosen to be part of your campaign through your website, social media, and/or unique product or service offering. Like HuffPost says, you earn your subscribers’ trust through promotion and the presentation of goods and services they just can’t get anywhere else.

2. Get real with email subscribers.Customers are rewriting the rules on how brands engage with them; we are marketing to an opt-in culture. For email marketing that sticks, it’s all about storytelling. Email campaigns need to build an emotional connection between the customer and the brand – visually and contextually. At BLVR, we always strive to implement a problem-solution narrative that target audiences can easily identify with. Take Vessel, for example.

Problem: Around the world, millions of children are unable to attend school simply because their families are too poor to provide the basic school supplies they need.

Solution: With every Vessel bag purchased, the company gives a school backpack to a child in need.

It’s a human and relatable storyline that stirs emotions, and is personal, simple, and shareable.

3. Call your email subscribers to action.Email marketing is a two-way street. It’s not enough to tell your email subscribers a good story; they need to be called to action – whether that’s to sign up, learn more, buy now, or perform some other course of activity. Litmus says it best: “Your email subscribers didn’t wake up this morning looking to download or read more of anything. Instead, they may have woken up, like many of us, wanting or needing something.” Your call to action needs to reflect the latter.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter what time your email goes out, whether you use MailChimp vs Constant Contact, or designed a beautiful eNewsletter; if it isn’t serving a relevant narrative with clear calls-to-action to its addressed recipient, it’s not going to convert.

Key Takeaways:

Build your email list in a credible way (ergo, no giveaways!) that attracts users who are genuinely interested in your content. Free eBook/whitepaper downloads, homepage email sign-ups, and custom email sign-up landing pages are all great ways to develop a dependable database.

The long-term success of email marketing is rooted in telling stories. Linear, interactive, and problem-solution-based narratives are highly effective for eCommerce brands.

Amplify the value of moving beyond the email. Develop calls-to-action that reflect your email subscribers’ wants and needs. Speak to the user’s problem and develop a CTA around it.

If interested in learning more about BLVR’s marketing services, contact us today.

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